VANCOUVER — A North Vancouver father is sharing the terrifying story of how his son almost died from a preventable disease because a child at his kid's school wasn't vaccinated.

Jason Lawson said his son, 10-year-old Beckett, was undergoing chemotherapy four years ago for leukemia when he came down with the chickenpox and had to spend 10 days in the ICU.

Beckett was six years old, and responding well to the chemotherapy, enough that doctors had begun giving him a lower dose. But the chemo compromised his immune system, rendering the booster shots he had as a baby ineffective.

"After everything he had gone through we wanted to give him as normal as life as possible so we sent him to school," said Lawson. But it wasn't long after he had returned to school that they received a letter saying there was a case of chickenpox. Lawson said he was later informed by school staff that the child had not been vaccinated.

Beckett came down with the usual symptoms of chickenpox, such as itchy blotches on the skin, but they were also accompanied by a dangerously high fever. He was rushed to BC Children's Hospital where he had to undergo intense anti-viral treatments.

"We were so scared," said Lawson. "I just couldn't believe this was happening to him because someone at his school wasn't vaccinated."

Last week, Lawson was at his local community centre renewing Beckett's shots, and the nurse suggested he share their story with the public so people are made aware that children who are not vaccinated can potentially put others, particularly those with compromised immune systems, at risk.

Doctors told Lawson that Beckett was lucky he survived the chickenpox. Sadly, there are other children in similar situations who have died, he said.

"We all are in contact with people who are immune-compromised every day we just may not know they are," said Lawson. "Getting immunized isn't just about protecting your own kids, but your whole community. Everyone has a responsibility to protect themselves so they're not spreading disease to others."

He wants people to know that by not vaccinating children against preventable diseases, they could be putting anyone with a compromised immune system at risk, including elderly grandparents, sick children or anyone on medication that lowers immunity.

Three and a half years in remission, Beckett is free of cancer and a healthy kid, who plays hockey, skis and mountain bikes. Lawson is grateful for the help he received at BC Children's Hospital, and he has become a strong advocate for vaccinating children.

"I find it so frustrating that some people don't vaccinate their kids," he said.

He thinks there are those who don't trust doctors or big pharma, and others who think vaccines are some sort of conspiracy, but he said the risk of contracting a deadly illness is so much greater for children if they haven't been inoculated.

Medical health officers advise that all children starting at age four get their booster shots to protect against chickenpox, polio, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough before kindergarten starts in September.

Dr. Meena Dawar, a medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal said while serious childhood diseases such as polio and diphtheria are rare, there's still cause for concern.

"As we saw with the recent measles outbreak in the Fraser Valley, and now in Alberta, these diseases are highly infectious and can spread quickly among those who aren't vaccinated," she said, in the statement.

Dawar said it's much safer to get the vaccine than to get the disease.

Vaccines can be obtained for free from family doctors or from public health nurses at community health centres.

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